Government, Politics, & Issues

The legislation includes many changes to state elections, including restoring voting rights to some parolees and allowing the use of campaign dollars for child care.

The high court also rejected lawsuits contending that the new lines passed in 2025 were not compact as required by law.

Other legislation that could be considered in the last week of the 2026 session includes a wide-reaching education bill and measures to limit vehicle inspections and raise the rural highway speed limit.

Included in the budget is $4.2 billion for the K-12 public school foundation formula, more than $376 million in school transportation funding and $60 million for the state's private school voucher program.

While the Senate has heard in committee a wide-reaching House bill on property taxes, it has yet to reach the Senate floor.

The GOP governor said he's ready to sell his plan to expand sales and use taxes as a way to eliminate Missouri's income tax to voters.

Missouri would keep the back-and-forth system unless Congress opts for permanent daylight saving time.

On Thursday, the House rejected the Senate version of the operating budget which will send it to a conference committee to work out a compromise.

Legislation approved by the House on Monday would target people who share deepfakes of a child and ban social media for children under 16 who don't have parental consent.

Supporters of the bill cited a February incident in which a semitruck driver went the wrong way on a Troy highway and could not pass an English proficiency test. Opponents say testing is subjective.